Children affected by family violence even before birth – medics

Domestic violence can harm babies even before birth due to them being “exquisitely sensitive” to their parents’ suffering, Australian medical experts told Australia's first royal commission into domestic violence.

The fear of possible harm makes the woman’s body release hormones
that are capable of permeating the placenta and affecting the
baby’s development in utero, which can cause severe consequences
for pregnancy, the Guardian reported.

The unnerving findings were brought to the attention of the Royal
Commission into Family Violence in the Australian state of
Victoria by Professor Louise Newman of Melbourne’s Royal Women’s
hospital and family therapist, Dr. Robyn Miller.

Women subjected to domestic violence “are more likely to have
preterm deliveries ... babies can have growth problems in their
nervous system and brain, and also be small babies, so
potentially vulnerable in terms of their ongoing
development,” Newman said.

This makes identifying women in high-risk situations during
pregnancy especially important, she added.

“We must train medical professionals to be attuned to
indicators of violence, and how you speak about these things with
families makes all the difference,” the commission was told.

Explanatory work with fathers on early stages may present an
opportunity to rid the babies from harm as “most men want to
do the right thing by their children,” Miller stressed.

Miller, who is also a social worker, said that he witnessed cases
when children of just a few weeks old falling into a state of
“frozen watchfulness” due to being exposed to violence
between the parents.

“They only have to hear the voice of the perpetrator and
they’re in this dissociative state,” he said, adding that
“children and very young babies can sense the fear in their
parents. They can smell fear.”

The medical workers stressed that the first years of life are
vital for brain development and traumatic experiences suffered
during this period may affect a child’s learning ability, memory
and attention span.

Hurtful flashbacks in a child’s mind can be triggered “when
they smell something, when they hear dad’s voice raised, when
they see that look on their mum’s face, when someone grabs them
from behind at school in a game.”

Kids who experience domestic violence in utero and in early life
often respond by acting out or becoming withdrawn, the medics
said.

In older age, such children are more likely to participate in
exploitative relationships and are vulnerable to being
manipulated, targeted and groomed for child abuse by others.